The Empty Bottle Chicago Playlists

We are pleased to announce The Empty Bottle Chicago: 21+ Years of Music / Friendly / Dancing is now available in stores! This collection of photographs, interviews, and essays culled from a community of music fans, bartenders, booking agents, bouncers, and underground musicians tells the history of the influential hole-in-the-wall rock venue, the Empty Bottle, named one of "The Best Rock Clubs in America" by Rolling Stone.

photo by Clayton Hauck

See what people are saying about it:

"The Empty Bottle Chicago: 21+ Years of Music/Friendly/Dancing [documents] the history of the club that helped a generation of Chicago’s indie scene make a name for themselves in the 1990s and then kept on going for the next generation."—The Guardian

"Dugan’s specific subject may be Finkelman’s long-running club on Western Avenue, with its famous “Music/Friendly/Dancing” awning and always-busy bar. But the interviews with veteran club staffers, music lovers, and musicians [...] join with the incredible photos [...] to document and celebrate the broader point above: Music is a unifying community, and intimate clubs like the Bottle are its heart and soul. Long may it and all the others in town thrive."—WBEZ

Editor John Dugan has compiled a series of playlists of the year's best music from 1993 — 2001. Featuring Empty Bottle-hosted bands and others, join us on this '90s indie rock nostalgia trip: